A total ban on all imports of Russian oil and refined fuels could be postponed for the time being, while EU diplomats will work on a compromise agreement that Hungary would agree to, sources from Brussels told Politico.
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If that were the case, it would be an unpleasant snag for the EU in trying to face Russia’s aggression hard and unitedly.
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Politico literally writes of a potential “blow to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who proposed a total ban on all Russian oil imports on May 4.”
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Cutting the European market off from Russian fossil fuels is seen by EU insiders as a crucial step in reducing Russia’s war funding.
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However, for landlocked countries that are dependent on Russian oil supplies, such a ban would be very painful.
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The Commission has tried to reach a compromise with Orbán, but his government reiterates that it needs more time and more money than it is ready to agree.
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“There really is an idea to split the package, because we have basically agreed on 90 percent, so we would approve it without a ban on oil,” said one EU diplomat.
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According to him, such a solution would make it possible to increase the pressure on the Kremlin, maintain unity and, in the meantime, continue the energy debate.
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Spiritual-propagandist
However, oil is not the only topic on which Orbán disagrees with the rest of his European colleagues.
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The European Commission is proposing that Kirill, the Patriarch of Moscow, the highest representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, be named in the sixth sanctions package.
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The patriarch strongly supports the Russian war, calling Ukrainians “forces of evil” and even stating that one of the reasons for invading Ukraine is homosexual pride parades organized in the West.
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Conservative Prime Minister Orbán, who has also cultivated friendly relations with Moscow in recent years, sees the possible sanctioning of Patriarch Kirill as an “attack on freedom of religion”.
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